Nicole Goldstone, the daughter of Richard Goldstone, whose (UN) report on Operation Cast Lead alleged that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza, maintained on Wednesday that her father “is a Zionist and loves Israel.” …

The United Nations fact-finding mission into the Gaza offensive describes Israel as perpetrating war crimes – a police state which persecutes minorities – and tars the Palestinian leadership in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with similar accusations.

If its findings and recommendations are accepted, the International Criminal Court in The Hague could call a summit meeting between the leaders of Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority on the defendants’ stand. …

Western governments may ignore this damning report, but it will now serve as the basis of criticism against Israel in public opinion, the media, on campuses and in think tanks ….

….. Cast Lead was an unrestrained assault on a besieged, totally unprotected civilian population which showed almost no signs of resistance during this operation. It should have raised an immediate furor in Israel. It was a Sabra and Chatila, this time carried out by us. But there was a storm of protest in this country following Sabra and Chatila, whereas after Cast Lead mere citations were dished out.

It should have been enough just to look at the horrendous disparity in casualties – 100 Palestinians killed for every Israeli – to shake the whole of Israeli society. There was no need to wait for Goldstone to understand that a terrible thing had occurred between the Palestinian David and the Israeli Goliath. But the Israelis preferred to look away, or stand with their children on the hills around Gaza and cheer on the carnage-causing bombs.

Under the cover of the committed media, and criminally-biased analysts and experts – all of whom kept information from coming out – and with brainwashed and complacent public opinion, Israel behaved as if nothing had happened. …. On the eve of the Jewish New Year, Israel, deservedly, is becoming an outcast and detested country. …

… [Israel’s] non-cooperation policy didn’t really work either, as evidenced by Goldstone’s harsh report. By not cooperating, Israel surrendered the initiative to NGO groups who fed Goldstone information, and also opened itself up to charges that it had something to hide. …

… Goldstone, a practicing Jew and a Zionist, is described by people who know him in South Africa as a respected and brilliant jurist, something of an icon in the Rainbow Nation, where he headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He is revered worldwide as a champion against injustice. …

Attacking residential areas, water wells, rooftop water tanks, agricultural land, citrus groves, chicken farms, greenhouses, business factories and police stations.
Using phosphorous incendiary shells on a UN compound sheltering more than 600 civilians.
Using phosphorous and high explosive artillery shells on Al-Quds hospital. (He rejected the contention that Hamas or other militants were using the hospital.)
Attacking a crowded mosque during evening prayers. (He rejected the contention that arms and militants were inside.)
Using flechettes, 4-cm metal darts fired from missiles, planes or tanks “that penetrate straight through human bone and can cause serious, often fatal, injuries.”
Using Palestinians as human shields in house searches.

Goldstone urged the UN Security Council to ask both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to hold transparent investigations and report back in six months.

Failing that, the council should turn the matter over to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

… Adalah’s new report: “Prohibited protest – how the law enforcement authorities limit the freedom of expression of opponents of the Gaza military attack.”

… The detainees were presented as lawbreakers and criminals who should be treated harshly due to ‘the situation,’ unconnected from the political climate of their protest.” … the police again defined the protests against the war as “a disruption of the peace.”

… during the operation, hundreds of minors spent weeks behind bars awaiting trial. A review of several decisions regarding “daily detention” indicates how the police inflated the suspicions against the detainees, in order to lengthen their detention.

…. last week a U.N. commission headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone condemned what it called “a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population,” and suggested that responsible Israelis be hauled before the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.

… Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has no interest in a two-state solution, much less ending settlement expansion. He and his government want a “greater Israel,” which means maintaining effective control of the West Bank and Gaza. His response to Obama’s initiative has ranged from foot-dragging to outright defiance, with little pushback from Washington. …

Two U.S. Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee are circulating a letter that would urge the Obama administration to block punitive actions against Israel in the wake of the Goldstone report. …. circulated by the offices of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). …

The letter, based on a draft by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee ( AIPAC ) ….

Tensions are mounting between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following Ramallah’s call on the International Court at The Hague to examine claims of “war crimes” that the IDF allegedly committed during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. …

…. Israel has warned the Palestinian Authority that it would condition permission for a second cellular telephone provider to operate in the West Bank – an economic issue of critical importance to the PA leadership – on the Palestinians withdrawing their request at the International Court. ….

UN investigator rejects criticism that report which accused Israel, Hamas of war crimes during Operation Cast Lead was politically motivated. ‘Culture of impunity in the region has existed for too long,’ he tells Human Rights Council …. Goldstone, however, has called Israel’s efforts so far “pusillanimous.” …

… The United States called on its close ally Israel on Tuesday to conduct credible investigations into allegations of war crimes committed by its forces in Gaza, saying it would help the Middle East peace process. …

… After subjecting him to useless, automatic mudslinging, Israel suddenly realized that it should finally investigate the events of Operation Cast Lead. …

Goldstone fulfilled his task, and in so doing proved he is a Zionist and friend of Israel. Thanks to him, Israel may change its belligerent ways and look at them in the future through the prism of international law and the personal cost involved in breaking it. If up to now we thought only how to kill without being killed, from now on we will think about the price tag attached to mass killing of the other side …

…. Netanyahu, if his speech is any indication, believes that Israel is a country that stands apart and stands alone; an island state that is forced to protect itself from its Arab and Muslim neighbors by security fences and cultural defenses. He did not express any desire to become acquainted with these neighbors or their culture, or for Israel to become part of the Middle East community. As far as Netanyahu is concerned, the peace Israel wants is a deal between leaders and not peoples. “Any time an Arab leader genuinely wanted peace with us, we made peace,” he said. …

There is great rejoicing in the settler camp and among its supporters on the right. As they see it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defeated U.S. President Barack Obama in an arm wrestling match when, at the tripartite summit, the latter had to retreat from his demand for a total settlement freeze. … it has been proved that when Israel stands up proudly for its rights, even the president of the United States cannot knock it down. …

The government, both Federal and State, spends too much money on things we don’t need. They give away billions of dollars each year to countries, like Israel, that compete with us in the world marketplace, and who could very well stand on their own two feet, or should be relegated to the dustbin of history if they can’t.

The US military budget is almost $1 trillion per year, an astronomical sum that actually makes us less safe, because we use it to bomb innocent people, which inflames passions against us and results in attacks such as 9/11. There are an infinite number of soft targets that can be hit with ease, so the best way to stay safe is to stop messing with other people and stop meddling in other peoples’ internal affairs. ….

The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December [2001] and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information.

The remnants of Osama’s gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama’s ghost alive or because they have no means of communication.

Judge who headed UN investigation committee into Israeli operation in Gaza tells CNN he is saddened by fact that Jews feel he should not be investigating Israel because he is Jewish. I probed war crimes in other countries, he says, so why should Israel be different? ….

With all due respect, the judge replied, I believe Mr. Netanyahu did not properly understand the basis of our investigation. He added that the report did not doubt obvious Israel’s right to defend itself, but looked into the methods used, examining whether the Jewish state’s response was proportional or disproportional. ….

In the interview, Goldstone described the damage caused to the Gaza Strip during the Israeli operation, stressing that the damage caused to the infrastructure had no military justification.

According to the UN investigator, agricultural fields were razed with tanks and bulldozers, the Strip’s only flour factory was destroyed and most of the egg production industry was ruined. Tens of thousands of hens were killed, he said, and this had nothing to do with the firing of rockets or mortar shells. ….

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters in Stockholm Thursday that South African jurist Richard Goldstone, who headed the investigation into the war, is a person with “high credibility” and “high integrity” and that his report carries weight. …

…. The congressmen even hinted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been personally involved.

The source, who met in Washington with administration officials and members of Congress, told Haaretz he was stunned by the level of anger there over attempts to portray Obama to the American public as an enemy of Israel because of his efforts to restart peace talks and freeze settlement construction. …

(Snip): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that he has instructed his envoy to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to resubmit a proposal for a vote on the Goldstone Commission’s report on Gaza war crimes.

(Snip): … The Jewish State is generally associated with war and violence and has little relevance for most people in leading countries. The attempt to focus on hasbara in terms of defending our actions to the world is wrong, as it reinforces the image of Israel as a conflict-ridden place and has at best only short-lived benefits in terms of international legitimacy. …

(Snip): A jittery Israeli government reacted furiously yesterday after a top British diplomat voiced support for aspects of a UN report that could lead to prosecution of Israeli army officers for alleged war crimes. …

(Snip): …. Following the cancellation of the joint NATO military exercise planned between the IDF and Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan added fuel to the fire when he again brought up “Israel’s war crimes in Gaza” saying that Israel “bombed children with phosphorous.” ….

… Jerusalem is preparing for a broad diplomatic and public relations campaign, and are even planning on using this week’s mysterious explosion in southern Lebanon as argumentation against the Goldstone Report in a bid to deflect international attention from the report.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke spoke Tuesday evening with the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Spain and Norway, as well as other statesmen and diplomats, ahead of a special session of the Human Rights Council scheduled for Thursday.

“The democratic nations of the world must understand that adopting the report will cripple their ability to deal with terror organizations, and terror in general,” Barak told them, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the report Wednesday during its regular monthly meeting on the Middle East, which was moved up a week after a Libyan request for a special session to discuss the Goldstone report was turned down.

The Human Rights Council debate is also set to discuss the recent unrest in Jerusalem over the Temple Mount and the blockade of Gaza, Ha’aretz reported, citing a resolution that is set to be submitted by the Palestinian Authority.

The Goldstone report on Israel’s military operation in Gaza last winter accuses Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity

Israel is seriously considering restricting travel to Europe by its senior officials and military officers, fearing they might be arrested in the wake of a disputed U.N. report that accuses the Jewish state of targeting civilians in its Gaza war earlier this year.

The French delegates joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent diplomatic attempts to lobby European counterparts, including Holland, Spain and Denmark, to back Israel’s rejection of the report’s findings. …

This year has seen a dramatic shift in American Jews’ attitudes toward Israel. In January many liberal Jews were shocked by the Gaza war, in which Israel used overwhelming force against a mostly defenseless civilian population unable to flee.

Then came the rise to power of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose explicitly anti-Arab platform was at odds with an American Jewish electorate that had just voted 4 to 1 for a minority president. Throw in angry Israelis writing about the “rot in the Diaspora,” and it’s little wonder young American Jews feel increasingly indifferent about a country that has been at the center of Jewish identity for four decades. ….

Following B’Tselem’s intervention, the army opened a military police investigation into the vandalizing of cars in the southern Hebron hills and suspended two officers suspected of involvement. On 12-13th of October, B’Tselem documented 8 cars used to transport Palestinian workers that were vandalized, allegedly by soldiers.

The cluster rounds which don’t detonate on impact, believed by the United Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain on the ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape with thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after the war has ended.

Because of their high level of failure to detonate, it is believed that there are around 500,000 unexploded munitions on the ground in Lebanon. To date 12 Lebanese civilians have been killed by these mines since the end of the war. …

It has come to light that IDF soldiers fired phosphorous rounds in order to cause fires in Lebanon. …
A direct hit from a phosphorous shell typically causes severe burns and a slow, painful death.

International law forbids the use of weapons that cause “excessive injury and unnecessary suffering”, and many experts are of the opinion that phosphorous rounds fall directly in that category.

The International Red Cross has determined that international law forbids the use of phosphorous and other types of flammable rounds against personnel, both civilian and military

(IsraelNN.com) China says it will not support the discussion of the controversial Goldstone Report in the UN Security Council and at the International Court in the Hague.

… while China supported adopting the report at the UN Human Rights Council, she will oppose discussing it in other UN forums.

According to Knesset Speaker Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin, this is an important diplomatic achievement for an Israeli parliamentary delegation, …. Mexico [] also expressed sympathy for Israel’s position regarding the Goldstone Report.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Friday that Israel must prepare for a protracted struggle against a damning United Nations report on its winter offensive in Gaza, after the UN’s Human Rights Council endorsed the report.

Richard Goldstone said he believes Russia, France and China will oppose having the report on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza debated in the UN Security Council. ….

Goldstone’s comments come at a time when Israel is undergoing a diplomatic struggle aimed at minimizing damage caused by the report on the international front.

Alongside the PR campaign to be launched by Israeli representatives against the report, a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday raised the possibility of succumbing to international pressure and appointing an inquiry committee to probe the Gaza war.

South African jurist Richard Goldstone, who led a damning United Nations probe into Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter, has challenged Barack Obama’s administration to justify its claims that the report is one-sided and flawed.

Goldstone’s report, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes in the Gaza offensive. Israel has rejected the report as biased and the U.S. has said it would support Israel’s efforts to prevent a UN Security Council debate on the report. …

“Operation Cast Lead was the most planned operation in the annals of Israel’s wars,” …

Diplomatic thinking needs to be multidimensional. It must balance the need to deal a decisive blow to the enemy and the need to avoid damage to Israel’s image that greatly exceeds the benefit of unleashing the blows. Operation Cast Lead did not meet this minimum demand.

It has once again become clear that key recommendations by the Winograd Committee that investigated the Second Lebanon War were not implemented. …

The United States and a number of important EU countries are pressing Israel to establish an independent commission of inquiry into the findings of the Goldstone report on last winter’s Gaza offensive. … the only way to prevent Israel’s isolation and possible action in the United Nations or International Criminal Court is by establishing a committee.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has asked United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to keep the Goldstone Commission report on Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip from advancing to further votes within the international body.

The damning report, which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes, was endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council last week despite opposition from Israel and its allies. …

Brandeis University said yesterday that it will host a forum next month with South African Judge Richard Goldstone, the author of a fiercely controversial United Nations fact-finding report that accused Israeli forces as well as Palestinian fighters of committing war crimes in Gaza. ….

The Goldstone-Gold forum on Nov. 5 will be cohosted by the university’s International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life and by the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. …

The defense establishment confirmed that in recent weeks West Bank settlers have been making a noticeable effort to expedite construction, in an attempt to maximize the “facts on the ground” before the United States and Israel reach an agreement on a settlement freeze. ….

We don’t need them. They’ll never see things our way, no matter what. Let them go.

It’s a new Israeli approach which borrows from the very worst of our aging instincts. It says: We’re moral, our enemies are out to exterminate us along with our state, that’s all you need to know. No modifications necessary. Stay the course. Concede nothing. Ease no siege. Give no ground. Ever. …

… The former chairman of the governing board of the World Jewish Congress, Isi Leibler, fired the opening shot this month when he declared it “our obligation to confront the enemy within – renegade Jews – including Israelis who stand at the vanguard of global efforts to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state.” …

‘J-Street’, a counterweight to AIPAC … the new dovish lobbying organization which describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace. Writing ahead of J Street’s first national conference, which begins on Sunday in Washington, Leibler argued that although J Street and other American Jewish groups critical of Israel may describe themselves as Zionist, “their prime objective is to pressure the U.S. government to use ‘tough love’ against Israel – a euphemism for demanding that the Jewish state make further unilateral concessions to neighbors pledged to its annihilation.” ….

Senior House leaders have introduced a resolution calling on the president and the secretary of state to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration by the United Nations or other international fora of the Goldstone report on the Gaza war.

The resolution (H. Res. 867), sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), calls the report “irredeemably biased” and notes that it “is being exploited by Israel’s enemies to excuse the actions of violent militant groups and their state sponsors.”

The resolution also reaffirms U.S. support “for Israel’s right to defend its citizens from violent militant groups and their state sponsors.” AIPAC strongly supports this resolution

H. RES. 867 Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the ‘‘Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’’ in multilateral fora.

Human rights lawyers and pro-Palestinian activists in a number of European countries hold lists with names of Israel Defense Forces soldiers allegedly linked to war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. Existing legislation enables arrest warrants to be issued against these officers if they enter those countries. …

(10-23-09): Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and told him the report, which accuses Israel of committing war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, should be “buried”.

Highly respected Judge Richard Goldstone, who is both a Jew and a Zionist, rightfully condemns Israel’s policy of collective punishment of a people under effective occupation, destroying their means to live a dignified life as well as the trauma caused by the kind of military intervention the Israeli government called Operation Cast Lead

The good news is that J Street is opposed to it. The bad news is that the 800 pound gorilla, AIPAC, and its satellite organizations are pushing it hard.

The House resolution, which will pass on Tuesday, basically endorses everything Israel did in the horrific Gaza war while bashing Judge Richard Goldstone for documenting war crimes committed in that war (320 dead Palestinian kids!). …. when Bibi asks us to jump, we jump even higher. …

… 10 state senators, through the American-Israel Friendship League and the National Conference of State Legislatures, are on a study tour of Israel. …

On September 29, 32 US senators signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging the Obama administration to block any punitive measures against Israel at the UN on account of the report. …

Title: Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the “Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict” in multilateral fora.

Possibly written by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), H.R. 867 has 114 co-sponsors. The vote is expected to take place on Tuesday.

The author of the report, Richard Goldstone, has submitted a letter** on this legislation pointing out serious factual errors in its assertions.

Voters are being urged to contact their representatives (U.S. House of Representatives 202.225.3121 or http://www.house.gov; U.S. Senate 202.224.3121 or http://www.senate.gov the Congressional switchboard) to oppose H.Res.867.

…. The resolution, co-sponsored by the two senior members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), charges that the report by South African jurist Richard Goldstone for the U.N. Human Rights Council is “irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy,” …

… We need to remember this Rashi because it suggests that American Jews should offer angry, vocal, confrontational critique when they feel that Israel is practicing particular policies that they find unworthy. Note the word that Rashi uses: “to fight.” …

…. if Anne Frank had survived the war, would she be a Zionist today? Would she feel that it was perfectly acceptable to do to others, what others had tried to do to her? Would she have joined this Zionist supremacist death cult? I hope not.

(JTA) — The northern California home of Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the progressive Tikkun magazine, was vandalized. …

It follows a week in which the magazine and Lerner received hate mail, apparently because Tikkun announced that it will award controversial Judge Richard Goldstone with its prestigious Tikkun Award. Some have pilloried Goldstone, a South African, for his United Nations report that accused Israel and Hamas of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the winter 2009 Gaza war. …